oyuki

Monday, January 24, 2011

Stocking Stuffer

Hat-tip to Babalu for posting about this on January 22d. The Polish Institute of National Remembrance[IPN] is coming out with a version of Monopoly that exposes the daily struggle that was Communism.

Just like in the Communist era, players can leverage certain advantages to get what they need. The "colleague in the government" card is the equivalent of the famous "get out of jail free" card in Monopoly. Any player lucky enough to have one of these beauties can secretly find out when the next deliveries will arrive in the shops. Mothers with children are allowed to jump the line as well.The game was tested on 100 people during the development phase and approved as an authentic representation of the difficulty of doing mundane chores in Communist times. According to Madaj, the oldest tester was an 84-year-old man who said that, just like in the game, the longest lines were always at the furniture stores.A game about waiting in line for scarce goods may sound rather depressing, but Madaj believes both young and old will have a laugh while playing "Kolejka." And just in case that doesn't happen, the game comes with a book of jokes from the Communist era, as well as archive photographs of real people waiting in line and a booklet providing a historical overview.

For the price of 10 Euros, a release date of February 5th, and the ability to order online the consumer may not have to wait in any lines to give the perfect gift to those friends and family who think Communism is cool and want to change things based on that hope.